It’s that time of year again. Ahhh I love it.

Softly falling snow, weekend baking, spiced gingerbread wafting through the air, friends and family gathering for laughs and hugs.

It can also be the time of year when the most colorful thing on your plate are the red and green sprinkles on your sugar cookies.

It’s easy to fall into that lovely, warm, comfort food trap, especially when it’s so cold that your nose instantly turns into an icicle the minute you step out the door. Thawing it above a bowl of steaming mashed potatoes or creamy pasta is sometimes exactly what we need.

But when it’s been awhile since you remember seeing anything bright green and leafy at the end of your fork, and every bunch of greens you buy seem to sadly wilt in the fridge uneaten, then it’s time to make this winter salad.

A salad in chill of winter? Absolutely!

Especially when it’s warm and brightly adorned with orange and garnet roasted root veggies, tangy tahini lemon dressing, and made filling and comforting with tender cooked Red Winter Wheat Berries.

A salad this time of year totally makes sense when it’s studded with late fall and winter’s finest ingredients like:

• Sweet potatoes
• Beets
• Red Winter Wheat Berries
• Spinach, Chard, or Baby Kale
• Cranberries
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Parsley
• Oranges
• Lemon

This salad is brimming with nutritious, whole food ingredients that are bursting with the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats to keep you feeling vibrant and energized all winter long.

Add some healthy color to your plate and find the comfort in a warm, filling, winter salad filled with roasted veggies, juicy oranges, crunchy pumpkin seeds, and tender red winter wheat berries.

Winter Wheat Berry Salad – Whole-Food, Plant-Based, Dairy-Free, Nut-Free, Vegan

• Serves 3-4
• Prep time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Earthly Choice Red Winter Wheat Berries, rinsed
• 1 large sweet pototo, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 large beet, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3 cups baby spinach, chard, or kale or a mix, chopped
• 3 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 large orange or two mandarins, segmented (or cut into bite-sized pieces)

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup tahini
• juice of 1 small lemon
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp water
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare two sheet pans with parchment paper.

Toss the chopped sweet pototoes and beets with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread out on the sheet pans and bake for 15 minutes.

While the veggies are baking, cook the rinsed wheat berries according to package instructions.

When the wheat berries are tender, drain any excess water and return to the pot. Stir in the greens and allow to wilt. Remove the roasted veggies from the oven. Combine the wheat berries and wilted greens with the remaining warm roasted veggies and remaining salad ingredients.

Stir together the dressing ingredients, adding water a tablespoon at a time plus extra, if needed, until you achieve the desired thinness.

You may mix the dressing into the salad now or serve on the side. After dressing the salad I like to top with extra cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and a dash of salt and pepper.